Downtown in the City

Envisioning a new type of downtown requires a bit of imagination - but only to see how we can combine things that already exist. Right now, most Canadian cities are car-centred, with the result that downtowns have died as people do their shopping at malls and big box stores in the suburbs. While many downtown areas are finally reviving, it is not the car that is reviving them; it is concerted efforts by cities and downtown business associations to clean up the core and make it a destination again.

The truth is, cars and high-density areas don't work well together. The result is traffic jams, smog, accidents, and streets that are not pleasant for things like window-shopping and sidewalk cafes.

Part of the solution is to get the cars out of crowded areas and to improve mobility at the same time. Portland instituted an extensive and free streetcar system to move people to-and-from downtown - and Portland is booming. Workers, shoppers, and restaurant and theatre-goers find going downtown more convenient - and less costly - using the streetcar than their car. Tourists can walk around the city without a car, making Portland more economical to visit, reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Portland is beating Kyoto targets), and making downtown safer, quieter, and more pleasant.

A second part of the solution is to extend the idea of the shopping mall. In nasty weather, nobody wants to walk around outside. This is one reason shopping malls have been so successful - as are the underground connections between buildings in Winnipeg, Calgary, and other cities that can get very cold in winter. Now imagine bringing those connections above-ground, essentially enclosing all of downtown. You could spend the day downtown wearing summer clothes - in -40C weather.

Imagine the West Edmonton Mall combined with the hotels in Las Vegas (minus the casinos) combined with typical downtown apartment buildings - all joined together. In pleasant weather, the glass over the walkways is open to allow fresh air, sunshine, and birds. In less pleasant weather, the glass is sealed to keep the streets warm, with additional heat coming from passive and active solar, much the same way a solar house works.

As you can see, we're already doing this. We simply have to continue extending it over the downtown area. Some areas even include apartment or condominium buildings; residents can walk out their front door to the patio of their neighbourhood cafe without a care for the weather.

And there's no reason that we can't also have enclosed neighbourhood centres. These would be denser areas where many people live in condos and apartments, and there are grocery stores, video rental outlets, outlet stores, an arena, a gym, a public swimming pool, and so on. We already build all these things; all we need are changes to city planning to start tying them all together.

Once the cars are out of downtown, all of this becomes possible. Replace those cars with electric buses, streetcars, and light rail. If car access is needed, move it underground, as many malls do now. However it is done, people can get downtown or to their neighbourhood centre without worrying about weather.

Next: D2 - Urban Life